Ski safety heel binding

ABSTRACT

1,227,823. Safety heel binding for skis. LUSSER G.m.b.H. &amp; CO. SKI-SICHERHEITSBINDUNGEN K.G. 3 July, 1968 [3 July, 1967], No. 31785/68. Heading A6D. A safety heel binding for skis comprises the following components:-a guide plate 3 secured to the ski 1 by means of spaced screws 2 (Figs. 2 to 4). Displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the ski 1 in the guide plate 3 is a base plate 4. Soldered on the upper side of the base plate 4 is a reinforcing plate 5. Through the base plate and the reinforcing plate extends a perpendicular threaded bore housing a locking screw 6 (Figs. 3 and 4) the point of which engages into one of a number of conical recesses (Fig. 3) in the guide plate 3 in order to lock the base plate 4 in a position corresponding to the size of the ski-boot 8 which is to be gripped by the safety binding. Fixed at the rear end of the base plate 4 is an upwardly projecting bracket 12 at the upper end of which a control lever 14 is mounted to pivot about the pin 13 in the vertical longitudinal plane of the ski 1. The lever 14 consists of two spaced identical stamped metal plate members engaging at the rear one on each side of a flat-toned upper end of the bracket 12. A selector lever 16 which at its lower end extends between the two parts of the lever 14 is pivotally mounted in the lever 14 by the pin 15. The upper end of the lever 16 is provided with a claw 17 in which fits the stirrup member 18 (Figs. 3 and 4). Screwed on to each of the two limbs of the member 18 is a threaded member 19 carrying a coil tension spring 20 (Figs. 2 and 4). The lower end of each of the springs 20 is provided with a ring portion 21 which engages a hook 22 on the plate 5 (Figs. 2 and 3). The lever 16 can be pivoted together with the member 18 and the springs 20 out of its extreme forward position, shown in Fig. 1, into the extreme rear position, shown in Figs. 3 and 4. A compression member 24 is pivotally mounted at the front end of the lever 14 by means of the pin 23 and has at its lower end a hook 25 (Fig. 4) which engages into a heel bracket 30 screwed to the heel of the ski boot 8 (Figs. 1 and 3). One end of an auxiliary spring 26 is attached to the member 24 at a point between the pivot pin 23 and the hook 25. The other end of the spring engages a ring 27 (Figs. 1 and 3) pivotally secured in the control lever 14 in the vicinity of the pivot pin 15. The front end of the base plate 4 is bent upwards and constructed as a two-pronged fork 29 which is open at the top. In the downhill position (Fig. I), the member 24 projects upwards at the rear and downwards at the front into the space between the two prongs 29, its hook engaging the bracket 30. A projection 31 at the upper end of the member 24 serves as an abutment for the lever 16 in the downhill position (Fig. 1). In the event of a combined frontal and twisting fall, the ski-boot 8 slips forward (Fig. 3), and the lever 16 is urged rearwardly through its dead centre position shown in broken lines to its extreme rear position shown in continuous lines.

Oct. 6, 1970 R, LUSSER 7 3,532,352

SKI SAFETY HEEL BINDING Filed July 3, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 77 FIG! l ,2 II I I 8 INVENTOR. 1?. L 0555K.

' Oct. 6, 1970 R. LUSSER SKI SAFETY HEEL BINDING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 8, 1968 FIG, 4

llv 175 18 I9 20 21' IINVENTOR. K L, USSFK,

3,532,352 SKI SAFETY HEEL BINDING Robert Lusser, Munich, Germany; Heinz Wagner II,

executor of the estate of Robert Lusser, deceased, assignor to Lusser G.m.b.H. & Co. Ski-Sicherheitsbindungen KG, Munich, Germany, a company of Germany Filed July 3, 1968, Ser. No. 742,219 Claims priority, application Germany, July 3, 1967, 1,578,814 Int. Cl. A63c 9/84 U.S. Cl. 280-1135 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ski safety heel binding has a guide lever swingably mounted on the ski in a perpendicular horizontal plane and a pressure element connected to the free end of the lever for movement in the same plane presses obliquely from the rear and above to the front and below on the ski boots heel. A selection lever is pivotably attached to the guide lever in the above plane between two stops and spring means is secured to the section lever and the ski. The pivotal point of the selection lever lies between the connecting lines of the securing point of the spring and two end positions of its free end. The pressure element has a projection which extends beyond the free end of the guide lever and serves as a front stop for the selection lever.

The invention relates to a ski safety heel binding provided with a guide lever assemblage mounted for swinging or pivoting movement on the ski in a prependicular longitudinal plane, a pressure element on the free end of the assemblage which presses from the rear top portion to the front bottom portion on the heel of the ski boot,

A ski safety binding of this design is shown in German Pat. No. 1,182,993 of the applicant. In the case of such a heel binding, the heel of a ski boot which is supported forward by a support, for example, a safety jaw of a known design, is pressed by the pressure element of the heel binding firmly downward against the ski as long as the selection lever asumes its front end position provided for starting of the run. If, in the case of a forward fall of the skier, the force which is directed upwardly from the heel and transferred to the pressure element, exceeds a certain limit which corresponds to a still permissible load on the leg of the skier, the guide lever assemblage is swung upwardly counter to the effect of the spring anchored on the ski. At the same time, it carries along the selection lever and brings it into a position where its free end, engaged by the spring, lies on the connecting line between the anchoring point of the spring and the pivotal point of the selection lever. From this position, the selection lever will automatically jump into its rear end position under action of the above-mentioned spring, in which the force of the spring has only a very much lesser momentum in relation to the pivotal axis of the guide lever assemblage and, correspondingly, is able merely to produce a relatively small force of the pressure element, directed obliquely forwardly and downwardly, which is no longer dangerous for the leg of the skier. In the rear position of the selection lever, the heel of the ski boot therefore can be swung upwardly against United- States Patent 3,532,352 Patented Oct. 6, 1970 'ice a relatively small resistance up to a point, until the pressure element assumes an essentially horizontal position in which it is easily released from the heel in the case of a fall and thus completely frees the ski boot. The rear position of the selection lever is also selected for ascent with climbing furs or skins and for the long distance run. The pressure element at the same time can be swung within a wide range upwardly against the effect of an additional spring, through which, according to applicants German Pat. No. 1,204,984, it has 'been connected with the guide lever assemblage at a distance from its articulation point and vis-a-vis the arm, so that the heel of the ski boot can be sufiiciently lifted from the ski.

In the case of the known binding of the described design, the front position of the selection lever is determined by a stop which has been developed on the guide lever assemblage per se. Hence, swings of the pressure element have no influence on the front end position of the selection lever. The additional spring in the normal downhill skiing position of the binding is without tension and will not be under stress even if the heel of the boot presses the pressure element together with the guide lever assemblage so far upwardly in the case of a normal forward fall, until the selection lever jumps from the front to the rear end position. It may be different when the forward fall is connected with a turning fall and the front binding releases the point of the boot prematurely. In the situation, the ski boot can escape in a forward direction so that the heel in is upwardly directed movement no longer describes an are around the point of the boot, as in the case of a normal forward fall, but moves obliquely forwardly and upwardly. In such situation, it can happen that only the angular position of the pressure element in relation to the guide lever assemblage increases, while the latter is either not present at all or not pressed sufficiently upwardly to move the selection lever into its dead center position, from which it automatically jumps into its rear end position. Consequently, it is possible that the additional spring will be overstretched, and which spring per se is expected to act as a return spring for the pressure element only in the ascent position of the binding in which the selection lever assumes its rear end position.

In the case of the known binding of the design described, it is not yet completely out of the question that the jumping of the selection lever from the front to the rear end position will be impeded through icing.

It is the object of the invention to develop the described safety heel binding in such a manner that it will guarantee a timely release even under unfavorable circumstances of the type mentioned.

According to the invention, the side of a projection of a pressure element projecting beyond the free end of the guide lever assemblage serves as a front stop for the selection lever. In the case of an enlargement of the angle between the guide lever assemblage and the pressure element, the projection forces the selection lever from its front end position toward the rear in the direction of its dead center position. Whenever a swing of the guide lever assemblage directed upwardly is connected with an enlargement of the angle between the selection lever and the pressure element for the above-mentioned reason, the selection lever therefore reaches its dead center position even sooner than is the case with the above-described known heel binding. Hence, the danger of an overstretching of the spring connecting the pressure element with the guide lever assemblage is avoided. Such an overstretching can only occur if the selection lever does not jump into its rear end position. In the rear end position of the selection lever, the guide lever assemblage can swing so 3 far upwardly that the danger of an overstretching of the additional spring is impossible.

The projection according to the invention has the further advantage that even slight swings of the pressure element in relation to the guide lever assemblage as occur constantly in a downhill skiing due to the Varying degree of the force transferred from the heel to the pressure element, are transferred to the selection lever in such a manner that the latter likewise executes slight angular movements in relation to the guide lever assemblage which, it is true, are hardly discernable, but which suffice to prevent the selection lever from freezing to the guide lever assemblage or if any freezing may have developed to loosen the same.

In the case of a preferred embodiment of the invention, the projection in the case of the pressure element pointing forwardly, essentially in parallel to the ski, projects so far rearwardly that it will force the selection lever backwardly beyond the dead center position, in which its free end lies on the connecting line between the anchoring point of the spring and the pivotal point of the selection lever.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent to persons skilled inthe art from the following detailed description and annexed drawings of an exemplary embodiment, and in which drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a ski safety heel binding according to the invention in downhill skiing;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the binding shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the same binding in the case of a fall under unfavorable conditions; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the binding illustrated in FIG. 3.

In the case of the embodiment, shown by way of example, of a ski safety binding with the characteristics of the invention, a guide plate 3 is attached to a ski 1 by screws or the like 2. In the guide plate 3, a base plate 4 is supported for sliding movement in the longitudinal direction of the ski 1. A reinforcing plate 5 is soldered onto the upper side of the plate 4 and a perpendicular tap hole extends through the plates 5 and 4. An adjusting screw 6 is positioned in the tap hole and the point thereof meshes with one of a plurality of conical indentations or recesses 7 in the guide plate 3 (FIG. 3) in order to hold the plate 4 tfirmly in a position which corresponds to the size of a ski boot 8 that is to be held fastly by the safety binding.

A bracket 12 is attached to the rear end of the base plate 4 and projects upwardly therefrom. A guide lever assemblage 14 is swingably or pivotally connected to the upper end of the bracket 12 by means of a hinge bolt or the like 13 in the perpendicular longitudinal plane of the ski 1. The guide lever assemblage 14 is defined by two identically stamped metal parts of strong sheet metal, which extend at a distance in parallelism to one another essentially in a forward direction and which embrace the flattened upper end of the bracket 12 on both sides (FIG. 4). The assemblage arm 14 has a curvature directed downwardly and a selection lever 16, which engages between the two parts of the assemblage 14, is mounted swingably by a hinge bolt 15 at the lowest point of such curvature.

The selection lever 16 is provided with a jaw 17 at its upper end and the jaw extends in a transverse direction. The middle portion of a substantially U-shaped stirrup 18 is seated in the jaw 17. A threaded plug 19 is screwed onto each end of the stirrup 18 and carries a spiral tension spring 20. More specifically, a thread is provided on the outside periphery of each threaded plug adapted to the pitch of the spring 20, and on to which the upper windings of the spring are threaded with a radial pre-stress. An eye 21 is located at the lower end of each spring and engages a hook 22 which is bent upwardly and is a part of the reinforcing plate 5.

The selection lever 16 together with the stirrup 18 and the springs 20 can be swung from the front end position shown in FIG. 1 into the rear end position illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the rear end position, the plane which contains the longitudinal axes of the springs 20, and thus also the effective lines of the drawing forces of such springs, is at a distance behind the bolt 15. In the front end position, the above-mentioned plane, on the other hand, lies in front of this hinge bolt 15.

A pressure element 24 is swingingly connected at the front end of the guide lever assemblage 14 in the perpendicular longitudinal plane of the ski 1 by means of a hinge or pivot bolt 23. In downhill skiing (FIG. 1), the pressure element 24 extends from the bolt 23 forwardly and downwardly and a hook 25 (FIG. 4) is provided at its lower end. An additional tension spring 26 at one end thereof engages the pressure element 24 between the hinge bolt 23 and the hook 25. The other end of the spring 26 engages an eye 27, consisting of a strong wire, and the eye is articulated to the assemblage 14 in the vicinity of the hinge bolt 15.

The front end of the base plate 4 is bent or displaced upwardly and is developed as a fork provided with two prongs 29 open in an upward direction. In the case of the angular position of the assemblage 14, as shown in FIG. 1, the pressure element 24 projects from the rear and above to the front and below into the interstice or gap between the two prongs 29, and its hook 25 extends into a fitting 30 attached to the rear of the heel of the ski boot 8. The fitting 30 is approximately the shape of a scoop.

The pressure element 24 has a projection 31 at the end remote from the hook 25, and the projection points in a direction opposite to that of the hook and which, (FIG. 1) in downhill skiing, serves as a stop for the selection lever 16. The projection 31 is efficacious for the following:

The changing stresses affecting the skiers leg during a downhill skiing result in the heel of the ski boot 8 frequently being ever so slightly raised from the ski 1 by a few millimeters, so that the heel fitting 30 presses the pressure element 24 and consequently the guide lever assemblage 14 slightly upwardly. In the case of this movemeent of the fitting 30 being directed substantially precisely upwardly, the acute angle between the pressure element 24 and the forward part of the assemblage 14 decreases, whereby the projection 31 yields slightly forwardly and thereby enables the selection lever 16 to also swing slightly forwardly under the effect of the springs 20. In the case of a decreasing stress, the sole of the ski boot 8 is again pressed firmly against the ski 1 and at the same time the angle between the pressure element 24 and the guide lever assemblage 14 is again increased to the original degree, so that the projection 31 together with the selection lever 16 return to the original position shown in FIG. 1. Such movements which are constantly repeated during downhill skiing make it impossible in the case of a forward fall for the binding to be blocked because the selection lever 16 had been frozen solidly to the assemblage 14.

When the ski boot 8, in the case of a combined forward and pivoting fall, yields forwardly because of a premature opening of the front binding as shown in FIG. 3 without the guide lever assemblage 14 being pressed upwardly, then the projection 31 will assume that the selection lever 16 is forced backwardly and per force via its dead center position, shown in broken lines in FIG. 3, and jump into its end position, shown in solid lines. In this position in which the spring 20 exerts only a small torque directed downwardly on the assemblage 14, the assemblage 14 upon the pressure element 24 being pulled forwardly can yield in an upward direction, so that the pressure element 24 is released from the heel fitting 30 before the additional spring 26 can be overstretched.

What is claimed is:

1. A safety heel binding for skies comprising a guide lever assemblage mounted for pivotal movement in a perpendicular longitudinal plane on a ski, a pressure element connected to the free end of the guide lever assemblage for pivotal movement in the same plane, said pressure element pressing obliquely from the rear and above to the front and below on the heel of a ski boot, a selection lever pivotally mounted on the guide lever assemblage in the perpendicular longitudinal plane between two stops, spring means secured to the selection lever and anchored to the ski serving as a pressure force for the pressure element, the pivotal point of the selection lever lying between the connecting lines of the anchoring point of the spring means with two end positions of the free end of the selection lever, and a projection on the pressure element, said projection serving as a front stop for the extension lever and extending beyond the free end of the guide lever assemblage in such a manner that, in the event of an enlargement of the angle between the guide lever assemblage and the pressure element, the projection forces the selection lever from its front end position towards the rear in the direction of its dead center position in which the free end thereof lies on the connecting line between the anchoring point of the spring means and the pivotal point of the selection lever.

2. A safety heel binding for skis comprising a guide lever assemblage mounted for pivotal movement in a per- 25 pendicular longitudinal plane on a ski, a pressure element connected to the free end of the guide lever assemblage for pivotal movement in the same plane, said pressure element pressing obliquely from the rear and above to the front and below on the heel of a ski boot, a selection lever pivotally mounted on the guide lever assemblage in the perpendicular longitudinal plane between two stops, spring means secured to the selection lever and anchored to the ski serving as a pressure force for the pressure element, the pivotal point of the selection lever lying between the connecting lines of the anchoring point of the spring means with two end positions of the free end of the selection lever, a projection on the pressure element, said projection serving as a front stop for the selection lever and extending beyond the free end of the guide lever assemblage in such a manner that, in the event of an enlargement of the angle between the guide lever assemblage and the pressure element, the projection forces the selection lever from its front end position towards the rear in the direction of its dead center position in which the free end thereof lies on the connecting line between the anchoring point of the spring means and the pivotal point of the selection lever, and said pressure element, when swung upwardly into a position in which it points forward substantially further than in its normal downhill skiing position, said projection extends sufficiently rearwardly to force the selection lever rearwardly beyond the dead center position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1964 Lusser 280-1l.35

OTHER REFERENCES German printed application, DAS 1, 196, 103 Lusse BENJAMIN HERSH, Examiner J. A. PEKAR, Assistant Examiner 

